Here is a picture of some key fobs I have collected over the years. As we know, Jaguar listed 2 different types. The winged one and the crawler type. I believe they were ALL made by CVD as you can see on the backside of the badges. They later changed the logo to CVD and even later, (about 65/66) the company renamed under CUD = Castle Union Developments of Leicester before they went bankrupt and taken over by “CRAFTSMAN”.
Hello Maikel can you help I have 2 cud Jaguar torpedo keyfobs they are in mint condition but the leather is very hard do you know how to soffen the leather I haven’t tried anything yet regards Paul
Paul,
Can I suggest a light application of hydrating cream after a gentle clean with a quality mild leather cleaner. The hydrating cream I have used successfully for some time contains ingredients such as beeswax, lanolin, eucalyptus oil, tea tree oil and emu oil; clearly a product made in Australia. From the ingredients you will get a sense of the sort of product you are looking for and I am sure there are equally good ones available where you are. A light application only followed by a light buffing 30 minutes afterwards! You may need to repeat in a month and then periodically. In my experience the CUD fobs will never become soft but the hydrating cream should prevent drying and cracking. Kind regards
Ian,
Your additional information is acknowledged and appreciated. Given the facts you have uncovered, your conclusions with respect to fob colour choice is understandable. However, I will choose not to conclude that Jaguar provided only a black fob option for fobs with badges pending further research. My reasons are (1) the example you give of your friend’s tan torpedo fob, (2) it seems a tad strange that Jaguar might provide colour choice with the ‘wings’ fob but not the ‘badge’ fob option, (3) an article I have very recently discovered and appearing in The Jaguar’s Roar (National Capital Jaguar Owners Club – US – July-August 2013) and written by Bud Marston shows pictures, albeit small pictures, of what appear to be tan, brown and black Jaguar and Daimler CUD torpedo fobs and (4) I have an original CUD keyring for another marque (MG) which is tan in colour. This said, my experience has been the overwhelming majority of Jaguar CUD fobs encountered have been black.
As an aside, I note the recently published large, detailed and splendid book Jaguar E-Type Six-Cylinder Originality Guide written by Dr. Thomas F. Haddock and Dr. Michael C. Mueller (pp 411 and 422) in dealing with the CUD key fobs available as options, deals only with the red/black badge and the ‘wings’ option. One could take the inference from this that the cream/black, red/red and E-Type ‘badge’ options were not also choices available to buyers of E-Types during six-cylinder production in the 1960s. I don’t believe this inference was intended. The authors were clearly working from examples sighted/ verified during research.
Subject to further enquiry, it appears CUD (at least) provided badge choice and likely fob colour choice to Jaguar buyers. Kind regards,
Hi OzzieJag,
Interesting comments with which I am inclined to agree and as you say Haddock/Mueller seem only to have considered the black versions of the CUD fob. My friend’s Jaguar medallion/biscuit fob has the gold dealer name embossed on the rear as “Appleyard Leeds” who of course were a major distributor and dealer in the North of England which seems to give credence to the fact that it is a factory original item.
Regards
Thank you for those comments OzzieJag – interestingly I have recently found a Jaguar Spares Division Bulletin no P.58 dated May 1962 which says the following: ” Distributors and dealers are reminded that a leather Key Fob bearing the “Jaguar” wings is available from the Jaguar spares Division, in car trim colours , at a price of 3/9d each.
In addition , a fob with an enameled “Jaguar” badge is now available, and is priced at 5/-.
Part numbers are shown below;-
Part No Description No.off Remarks
5194 Key Fob(11/721) 1 Please state colour when
ordering
9036 Key Fob (11/723) 1 Complete with “Jaguar”
Badge
The conclusion I have drawn from the remarks column is that the Jaguar Wings badge appeared to be available in the interior trim colour but the more expensive Jaguar medallion badge seems to be only available in black. This is in contrast to the key fob that a friend of mine purchased recently which was a medallion badge but with a biscuit (light tan) leather fob which perhaps has been added later
Cheers
Ian Wilkins
Ian,
I have seen a tan torpedo fob but, like you, not on a Jaguar keyring. The one I saw was attributed to CUD. If you access the website of Classic Leather Fobs (England) and use the ‘Gallery’ drop-down menu to access the examples of original keyrings from the Firm’s reference collection, you will see at least one torpedo fob in tan. It may well have been the case there was some choice in colour of leather when ordering.
I have recently seen a CUD key fob with the torpedo leather section manufactured in a biscuit (light tan) leather and was wondering if this is likely to be original or has happened since manufacture.
All illustrations one sees show the leather section in black so I was wondering was there a point at which CUD were making fobs to match the Jaguar interior colors.
Cheers
Ian
The Castles Unit Developments (CUD) price list from February 1966 is interesting, not least because it lists the selection of keyrings available for Jaguar buyers at this point in time. If these were the optional extra keyrings listed by Jaguar in spare parts catalogues at around this time (at least one learned writer on early E-Types refers to the red/black CUD keyring), it may have been that Jaguar customers were given a choice of colour. In my view, CUD keyrings are notable amongst the English makers producing keyrings in the 1960s. I have seen examples from a number of English manufacturers of quality keyrings. However, arguably there is a quality about CUD keyrings that sets them apart. The examples I have seen are of quite fine quality and appear particularly well made. I note more than one of the red/black CUD examples on torpedo fobs in your collection has the triangular stitching to reinforce the anchorage for the badge which does not appear on all CUD torpedo fobs. The ‘growler’ image (as CUD describes it – ‘Jaguar Head’) is quite different on each of your examples; one appearing muscular and slightly more menacing and the other almost domestic cat-like. Clearly a number of moulds were made over time! The leather appears to be either aniline (natural looking) or semi-aniline. The examples I have seen have been very dry and almost biscuit-like and in need of conditioning to replace the oils introduced at the time of manufacture (I believe called ‘fatliquoring’!). It is well recorded the CUD image on the reverse of the badge changed several times while these keyrings were current. I believe at least one of your ‘winged’ examples of keyring might be an example by R. Sculthorpe & Co. Ltd., another quality English manufacturer. I wonder whether the other ‘winged’ example is CUD? All very nice, highly desirable and it seems quite rare!